The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) took out a march in the city on Saturday to protest the acquittal of Congress leader Sajjan Kumar by a Delhi court in an anti-Sikhs riot case.

The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) took out a march in the city on Saturday to protest the acquittal of Congress leader Sajjan Kumar by a Delhi court in an anti-Sikhs riot case.

A number of SGPC members and employees as well as local Akali leaders participated in the march, which was led by SGPC executive committee member Rajinder Singh Mehta and secretary Dalmegh Singh. SGPC chief Avtar Singh Makkar could not participate as he was occupied with some other work.

The march commenced from the Teja Singh Samundri Hall in the Golden Temple complex and after winding its way through parts of the walled city culminated at the Hall Gate.

Unlike similar protests held on the emotive issue, the particupants in this march did not shout slogans or hurl abuses against anyone. The participants instead chanted 'Satnam Waheguru' as they moved towards the Hall Gate, where they sat on a dharna for sometime before dispersing.

Talking to the media during the dharna, Mehta said that the acquittal of Sajjan Kumar had hurt Sikh sentiments. The Sikh community was gradually losing faith in the judicial system of the country, he said.

He accused the Congress for the acquittal as it had allegedly shielded the main conspirators, including Sajjan Kumar, Jagdish Tytler and the late HKL Bhagat. Instead of sidelining them after their alleged complicity in riots came to the fore, the Congress leadership rewarded them with ministries and other plum posts in the party set-up, Mehta claimed.

The SGPC member reiterated Makkar's charge that the judicial system in the country looked at cases involving minority communities from a different angle. Grounds like 'lack of evidence' were cited while acquitting people like Sajjan Kumar, he added.

"If Sajjan Kumar and company are innocent, then the Congress or the central government must tell the nation as to who was involved in the 1984 riots in which 3,000 Sikhs lost their lives," he said.